Okay, I hate my PC -- time for a new one

[Viper007Bond]

I'm sick of this. This PC won't last another year, so time to start planning for a new one. Maybe Christmas sales...

Here's what I have that matters:

* Pentium 4C 3.0 GHz
* ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe mobo
* Antec TruePower 550W PSU
* 4 x 512 MB OCZ PC3200 DDR in dual channel mode (that’s 2 GB total)
* BFG Tech 6800 GT OC @ 410/1150 with Arctic Cooling NV Silencer HSF
* Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS

So what do I need new?

Obviously a video card, so that means a new motherboard, a new CPU, and new RAM.

What about the power supply? I assume that's okay still.


As for price range, I'm thinking if I'm gonna upgrade, I might as well spend a little extra now to save money down the road, i.e. it's not worth doing a very minor upgrade. Then again, I'm not made of money, so I can't afford a top of the line beast.

Thoughts?

[cvrefugee]

We pretty much has the same setup (except for my space-heater 3.4GHz Prescott) and I'm satisfied with the general performance. I seem to recall that you're a pretty big PC gamer, so I can see why you want to upgrade. Here are my suggestions:

Core 2 Duo (or Quad if you're feeling rich)
2GB-4GB RAM
8800GT

I have no idea what kind of mobo you should get, so I'll let somebody else take over from here.

[eltoro507]

This is what i'm getting, when the 8800 gt is in


Pretty good value for money

[Viper007Bond]

We pretty much has the same setup (except for my space-heater 3.4GHz Prescott) and I'm satisfied with the general performance. I seem to recall that you're a pretty big PC gamer, so I can see why you want to upgrade. Here are my suggestions:

Core 2 Duo (or Quad if you're feeling rich)
2GB-4GB RAM
8800GT

I have no idea what kind of mobo you should get, so I'll let somebody else take over from here.

WoW runs decent on my PC and I can play Source games at nearly max settings, but stuff like NFSS barely run on my PC and Crysis' min specs are my PC. So yeah...

* Yeah, Core 2 Duo rocks and it's what I was planning on. What speed though?

* I think I'll stick to 2GB of RAM. Doesn't seem a big need to go bigger and not worth the money.

* 8800 GT seems like an awesome bang for the buck, but isn't it a bit low end? Is it worth spending a little more for something better? I dunno. I'm outta the loop.

I do know that I want to stick to nVidia though. Can't stand ATi drivers.

* Mobo: something future proof. Besides that, doesn't matter. Don't need onboard audio or video (dur), but onboard gigabit NIC would be nice.

[cvrefugee]

I have no idea which speeds are the best for the Core 2 Duo. I wouldn't spend more than $200 on the CPU (you can always overclock). The 8800GT is a clear-cut winner for the price, according to Anandtech.

[jeffy777]

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard - Retail
$144.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
$194.99

OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P8002GK - Retail
Price after rebate(s):$45.99

EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$289.99 (should be dropping in price)

That comes to $675.96

You can overclock the snot out of the Core 2 Duo with that motherboard. You'd need to throw a better cooler on it though.

[eltoro507]

I'd get the e6750 instead of that e6600

[jeffy777]

Good call, that brings my price down too.

[awdrifter]

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard - Retail
$144.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
$194.99

OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P8002GK - Retail
Price after rebate(s):$45.99

EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$289.99 (should be dropping in price)

That comes to $675.96

You can overclock the snot out of the Core 2 Duo with that motherboard. You'd need to throw a better cooler on it though.

That's a really good build. If you to save some money, you can go with the E4500, it's 2.2ghz stock, but it has a 11x multi, should do 3+ghz easily.
$129 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115031

The 8800GT is a really good card, but if you want to save some money, go with the non-oc'd version and just oc it yourself.
$269 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150252

Spend that $90 on a good hsf.

[jeffy777]

That was actually one of the cheaper 8800GT's at Newegg. But there has to be a cheaper one somewhere? I couldn't find an EVGA non-overclocked version.

EDIT:

This XFX is $20 cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150252

The EVGA I posted above comes with a free copy of Quake Wars, but that really doesn't mean much to me.

I really like EVGA's warranty though because it's lifetime and you can still overclock without voiding it.

[Viper007Bond]

Worth $20 for a lifetime warranty in my book.

[jeffy777]

XFX has a lifetime warranty too, but I'm not sure if overclocking voids it.

EDIT:

OK, you can still overclock an XFX and be covered by their warranty:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/xfx...en_light_to_oc

[Viper007Bond]

EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$289.99 (should be dropping in price)

From what I've been reading, it seems worth waiting for that price drop (probably after the holidays), am I right?

[jeffy777]

Yes, because Nvidia is supposed to be releasing something new in December, plus prices do tend to drop after the holiday spending dies down.

[Viper007Bond]

Okay, sounds good. This PC has a few months left in it anyway, so best to make use of them.

[jeffy777]

It'll give you time to save up too

[awdrifter]

XFX has a lifetime warranty too, but I'm not sure if overclocking voids it.

EDIT:

OK, you can still overclock an XFX and be covered by their warranty:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/xfx...en_light_to_oc

Yea, from what I've read on most forums, XFX seems pretty oc friendly when it comes to oc'ing. As long as you don't physically mod the card, just oc by software, they will still honor the warranty if the card needs to be rma'd.

[Viper007Bond]

Well, if I OC the card, won't I want to replace the HSF? I've done that on my current card.

Or is the "stock" HSF enough?

[andyhui01]

I do know that I want to stick to nVidia though. Can't stand ATi drivers.

What happened to the ATi fan inside viper? I remember when I first came here we were one of the only 2 who actually liked our Radeon 9800 , until you bailed and went with the 6600

But tbh, I'm on the same side as you... I love ATi but I've had my x800 die on me, drivers support was poor, my 7600 is doing such a better job.

[Mischief007]

Come on. Come over to the dark side of ATI (Canadian started company).

I did a little test with RAM. I have a dual channel kit (which cost me $199 CDN about a year back...bloody prices) and ran it in Single Channel and then Dual Channel. Dual Channel gave me a 23% speed improvement in RAM functions.

Good luck with your purchase. Looks like the prices really came down since when I upgraded.